The subject matter herein relates generally to electrical connectors and more particularly to electrical contacts inserted into electrical connectors.
Aeronautical Radio, Inc. (“ARINC”) is a commercial standards group governing connectors, connector sizes, rack and panel configurations, etc primarily for airborne applications. Connectors which conform to ARINC specifications are sometimes referred to as ARINC connectors or connector assemblies. The ARINC connectors include one or more ARINC receptacle modules or inserts. One example includes the known ARINC 600 receptacle module or insert that holds size 22 electrical contacts. The ARINC 600 size 22 receptacle module or insert holds 150 electrical contacts using a housing formed of multiple sections. Different sized ARINC connectors may include a different number of ARINC 600 receptacle modules. For example, the size 3 ARINC 600 connector holds 4 ARINC 600 receptacle modules with a sum total of 600 contacts.
FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a known ARINC 600 connector insert 700. The ARINC 600 connector insert 700 includes a body divided into a front section 702 and a rear section 704. In order to assemble the ARINC 600 connector insert 700, a contact retention clip 706 is loaded into the front section 702 for each of a plurality of contacts 708. The contact retention clip 706 is loaded into one of a plurality of cavities 710 that extend through the front section 702. The rear section 704 is then bonded to the front section 702. The rear section 704 includes a plurality of cavities 712 that correspond to the cavities 710 in the front section 702. The electrical contacts 708 then are inserted, one at a time, into the cavities 710, 712 in the bonded front and rear sections 702, 704. The retention clips 706 engage the contacts 708 to secure the contacts 708 in the front and rear sections 702, 704. The ARINC 600 connector insert 700 thus includes a relatively large number of parts that are individually assembled together.
The contacts 708 in the ARINC 600 connector assembly 700 are machined from a solid block of a conductive material. The selection of materials used to create the contacts 708 is limited because the contacts 708 are screw machined. Typically, lower conductive copper alloys are used in a screw machining process. The contacts 708 in the ARINC 600 connector assembly 700 thus are not machined from high conductivity copper alloys and typically are machined from another, less conductive metal or metal alloy that has better machinability characteristics when compared to the high conductivity copper alloys. After machining the contacts 708, the entire contact 708 typically is covered with a gold plating layer to inhibit corrosion and therefore improve the current carrying capability of the contact 708. The contacts 708 thus are manufactured with less conductive materials and are plated in a barrel plating process that results in plating the entire contact 708 with a relatively expensive plating.
A need therefore exists for an ARINC 600 receptacle that is more economically manufactured.